Pressure-regulator



(No Model.)

J. E. WATTS. PRESSURE REGULATOR.

No. 253,567. Patented Peb.'14,1882.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH E. WATTS, OF LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS.

PRESSURE-REGULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 253,567, dated February14, 1882.

Application filed December 24, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosEPH ll. WATTS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Law rence, in the county of Essex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsinPressure-Regulators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention,

' such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertainsto make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanyingdrawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, whichform a part of this specification.

This invention relates to pressure regulators for controlling thepressure of steam, gas, or other fluids or liquids by which auniformpressure in the delivery pipe or drum or the apparatus supplied withsuch steam or fluid may be maintained regardless of fluctuations ofpressure from the generator or variations in the amount consumed.

Several patents of the United States have been issued to myself relatingmore or less intimately to the subject of my present improvement; butthe one to which such improvement especially relates was originallygranted on the 13th day of April, 1875, subsequently reissued on the12th day of March, 1878. In

this patented regulator the valve-stern is senected at its lower end tothe base of a weigh ted lever or a spring, such lever or springoperating to open or close the valve to increase or diminish the amountof fluid admitted to the delivery pipe of the apparatus which uses suchfluid, in order that the pressure at the last point of use shall beuniform, though the amount used may be increased or diminished. In theregulator as above patented the valvechamber is isolated from thewater-well below, and an orifice is created in the wall of the hollowcase of the regulator above the column of water in said well, and a pipeconnects with the orifice and communicates with the service or deliverypipe preferably at the end of the latter most remote from the valve, thepurpose of the auxiliary pipe being that in the event of the pressure inthe said pipe falling (No model.)

below themaximum determined upon,thepressure of steam or other fluidupon the column of water in the well and upon the diaphragm at thebottomof this well, by way of such auxiliary pipe permit the weighted lever toovercome the pressure and raise the valve and with it thedia'phragm, andadmit an increasedamount of steam to the delivery-pipe until the maximumpressureis restored to the latter, while if the pressure at the point ofconnection of small pipe exceeds the maximum the pressure within thedelivery-pipe will exert itself upon the column of water and thediaphragm will be lowered, thereby partially closing the supplyvalve.The upper part of the well-tube above the water-level in this patentedvalve is closedserves as a guide to the valve-stem and has a contractedorifice to permit of passage of water from the well to the chamber, theobject of this orifice being to allow the fluctuations of pressurein thewell to be communicated to the diaphragm gradually and easily, andthereby protect the latter from the effects of the waterhammer.

In practical application of the regulator as above patented I have metwith several obstacles. First, owing to the fact that the water remainspermanently in the Well it becomes thick from various causes and willnot circulate through the small orificein thelowershelfabove named,thereby intalidating the operation of the valve in many instances.

The object of'my present improvement is to relieve the diaphragm fromthe injurious effects of the unrestrained pulsations or fluctuations ofthe water in the well in order that violent or abrupt opening or closingof the valve may be avoided, and I secure the result by dispensing withthe lower shelf above named, and substituting for it an open guide forthe valve-stem, and by the employment of a horizontal partition in thesteam-space above the water-well, having a small orifice to permit thesteam or other prime fluid to get access to such water-well and thewater in the latter, in order that the thrusts or shocks of any suddenchanges in pressure in the prime fluid at the point of connection ofsmall pipe shall be imparted to the columnof water in the well by anelastic fluid operating gradually througha contracted orifice. If Wateris the medium employed to communicate these fluctuations through thecontracted passage, itnot only becomes inoperative by thickening, butowing to its non-compressibility these fluctuations act more violentlyupon the diaphragm than if an elastic fluid like steam is employed tocirculate through the said passage. Under ordinary circumstances, if thelower shelf were omitted theauxiliary pipe before named would berendered inoperative; but by placing apartition in the upper part orsteam-space of the water-well I am enabled to omit the shelf at thebottom of such well, and to operate to better advantage upon thediaphragm, and yet retain all the advantages resulting from the saidpipe.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure 1, avertical section, and in Fig. 2 a horizontal section taken through planeas y, of a steam or other fluidpressure regulator containing myinvention.

Reference being had to such drawings, it will be seen that the case ofthe valve is shown at A as resembling in general form that of the usualbalance-valve, the inlet port of such case being shown at 'B, and itseduction or discharge port at (3.

The valve-ports of the case A are shown at E and F, respectively, andthevalve atG, such valve being a balanced plunger-valve, so called.

The water-well which the valve-case surmounts is a vertical tube, H,which ordinarily stands about two-thirds full of condense-water, thelower and enlarged end, A, of this tube constituting thediaphragm-chamber, which is closed by an elastic diaphragm, I, confinedin position in'a suitable manner and connected with the lower portion ofthe rod Kof the valve G. The extreme lower end of the valve-rod K isconnected with the base of a weighted lever, P, pivoted to the lowerportion of the welltube, and operating to counterbalance the reducedpressure upon the diaphragm.

In the lower part of the well-tube H, I place an open guide, L, todirect the movements of the valve-stem, and I place a second but closeguide or shelf, M, at the upper part of the steam-space N of said well,and between the latter and the valvecase A.

The auxiliary or equilibrium pipe before alluded to is shown at a ascommunicating at one end with the steam-space of the well H and at itsopposite or remote end withthe'service or delivery pipe, at a pointpreferably most remote from the valve, in order that the pressure atintermediate points may not fall below that at the point of connectionof the small pipe.

In carrying out my present improvement I omit the close shelf at thebottom of the welltube and substitute for it, as before explained, theopen guide L, which shall offer practically no impediment to the waterin such well, and I retain the upper closed shelf, M, and in combinationwith this latter shelf, M, I employ a horizontal partition, 0, whichconstitutes a guide to the valve-stem, and is located below the openinginto the pipe at and in the steamspace of the water-well, and has anorifice, I), this orifice being of such size as to permit thefluctuations of pressure in the apparatus supplied with steam to getaccess to the water in the well, and through the latter to thediaphragm, but at the same time sufficiently contracted to operate as agovernor to prevent such pulsations from unduly affecting the diaphragmand to insure a uniformly steady movement of the valve.

By the employment of the partition 0 in the steam-space of thewater-well below the pipe to, in lieu of at the bottom of thewater-well, I govern the efl'ects of return-pressure upon the diaphragmthrough the said pipe at by re dueing the pressure of steam upon thecolumn of water in the well, whereas heretofore the water has beensubjected to the full pressure of such steam as might return by way ofsaid pipe. For this reason any change of pressure in the apparatusmaking itself felt within the steam-chamber of the water-well above thepartition 0 is lessened and equalized by pass in g through the orifice11 before getting access to the column of water below, and as this wateris not obstructed by an attenuated passage, as before, but has fullaccess to the diaphragm, the latter is always equally sensitive to thefluctuations of pressure in said steamspace.

As steam is an elastic fluid, while water is practicallynon-compressible, the pulsations of the column of water upon thediaphragm are cushioned by the small amount of steam admitted-throughthe orifice b, and the pulsations 0f the diaphragm are thus renderedless frequent and abrupt, while at the same time the diaphragm is moreuniformly sensitive to variations in steam-pressure.

I claim- In fluid-pressure regulators, a closed partition in thesteam-space of the water-well below the mouth of the equilibrium-pipewhich connects the water 1 well with the deliverypipe of the regulator,this partition having a passage to permit fluctuations in pressure atthe point of connection with equalizing-pipe to be communicated to thecolumn of water in the well, and through the latter to the elasticdiaphragm.

In testimony whereofI afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH E. WATTS.

Witnesses:

H. E. LODGE, F. CURTIS.

IIO

